Such a machine normally employs a continuous band blade tensioned between two revolving flywheels, means being provided for displacing feed rollers relative to the blade to enable the thickness of the flower or grain side sheet and of that on the crust or split side sheet to be varied depending upon the type of skins and their intended use.
Various types of such splitting machines can regulate the desired thickness of the flower or grain side of the skins by displacing both the feed rollers and the band blade in order to take into account certain specific parameters necessary for the correct cutting of the skin.
The basic elements which make up the known machines include a very rigid frame, to which are fitted two horizontal bridges, an upper one for carrying the feed roller and for compensating for the thickness of the skin and a lower one carrying a so-called rubberized feed and pressure roller and also a rings roller in contact with the flesh side of the skin. A longitudinal bench is disposed between the bridges to support and guide the band cutting blade which is tensioned between two lateral flywheels disposed at the ends of the bench.
In such known machines, in order to vary the thickness of the two parts cut from the skin, the upper and lower bridges and/or the related skin feed rollers are displaced in a direction perpendicular to that of the plane of the cutting blade, that is to say in the direction of the thicknesses of the two parts which it is desired to obtain, whereas the bench complex supporting the cutting blade is displaced in the transverse direction along the plane containing the upper face of the cutting blade, so as to enable the cutting edge of the blade to be displaced relative to the two feed rollers for the skin, to allow for the correct removal of the two parts of the skin from the cutting zone. Consequently in the known machines the support bench for the blade must satisfy two requirements: firstly taking up the reduction in the width of the blade due to the continued sharpening of same and to the cutting of the skin, and secondly displacing the entire blade into various positions in its plane, according to the thickness of the skin which it is desired to obtain and the latter implies that the support bench for the blade shall be displaceable with its entire assembly in the transverse direction relative to the upper and lower bridges so as correctly to position the cutting edge of the blade.
These requirements appreciably complicate the construction of the machine in that the transverse displacement of the blade demands the integral displacement of the supports for the blade itself, of the sharpening device, of the drive means with the related motors, and of the wheels on which the band is disposed, which wheels have to be not only rotationally driven but also longitudinally stressed to keep the band in tension during its cutting movement. To eliminate the disadvantages deriving from the aforementioned complexity of construction, the technical problem arises of being able to achieve correct cutting of the skins without the band blade support having to change its position relative to the frame of the machine.